A well-known Japanese announcer, , has been fired by her agency after she was criticized for criticizing men’s body odor. The news of Kawaguchi’s termination went viral on social media after her agency, , announced that it had terminated its contract with the freelance announcer on August 10 due to her “inappropriate” social media post. In their statement, VOICE mentioned that Kawaguchi’s post “defamed the opposite sex,” and hence, as an announcement agency, it couldn’t continue its association with her.
The agency also apologized for Kawaguchi’s post, acknowledging her fault. The post in concern was uploaded by Kawaguchi on August 8 on (former ), where she talked about men not maintaining hygiene well enough. She stated that she wanted to work in the beauty business targeted at male customers, adding that she found men’s body odor during the summer or the specific smell of the men who live an unhealthy life troublesome.
She also mentioned that she herself used products like sweat wipes and deodorant, in addition to showering several times a day all year round, to prevent bad body odor and wished that men could do the same. The post was met with severe backlash and was deemed sexist by many. Kawaguchi eventually had to delete it.
She later posted an apology on X, calling her remarks “immature” and apologizing for any hurt caused. I deeply regret my actions. As someone working in a profession that deals with words, I was immature.
Moving forward, I will.